Model Helicopters just keep getting better and better! I don't design helicopters for a living, but quality is something that doesn't take an advanced degree to understand. When you have your hands on quality, it's pretty obvious.
When I set eyes on the Pro GasHer helicopter from Quick Worldwide for the first time, the word; "Wow" seemed perfectly appropriate. My eyes immediately went to the silver carbon fiber frames. From there my jaw started to drop as my eyes lingered over the vented, machined clutch bell and then the massive all-metal machined head. Just like the lady from the commercial we all know who said; "Where's the beef?" I was asking myself; "Where's the plastic?" But, there wasn't any. I eyed the swashplate and the washout base and tapped the metal parts just to be sure.
Slowly my eyes traveled the length of the anodized blue tailboom to the tail mechanics and yep, sure enough I found the plastic, the tail blades. This discovery was however, totally anti-climactic. This helicopter is not a pieced together helicopter. It's a new design and each portion of the helicopter (e.g., head, frame, mechanics) was designed to function together.

Gohbee first introduced the Stinger 30 helicopter kit in the US in June of 2004, then the Stinger 50 in December of 2004. In February 2006, Gohbee introduced the Stinger 60 and Stinger 90 kits. In this issue, we'll look at the Stinger 50 and Stinger 90, which are two of the best sellers for Gohbee. Stinger designer, David Ellison looked at what was the bestseller on the market and recognized the Raptor has been the most successful. They used the Raptor design as a base and added new touches. The end result is all Stingers have 80 percent parts compatibility with Raptor 30, 50, 60, and 90 kits. All parts below the rotor head are directly interchangeable with Raptor parts. The Stinger rotor head is an all-new design. The Stinger main rotor geometry, mixing arm location, and control ratios are different. The Stinger 90 comes with a full CNC metal main rotor head. The Stinger 50 rotor head comes with a metal hub. The Stinger 50 and 90 fly well, and are a good value. The Stinger 50 kit with a plastic molded canopy and a set of carbon blades is $320. The Stinger 90 kit with a fiberglass canopy is only $525. All Stinger kits are semi ARF (almost ready to fly), the mechanics come assembled and the modeler just has to assemble the modules.

Much to my surprise, Jeff Green of MRC asked me if I would like to do a review on yet another Shuttle, I of course, enthusiastically said; yes!
If there is one helicopter that is responsible for getting new people in our industry, and kicking off our 30-size helicopter market, this title rightfully belongs to the Hirobo Shuttle. The Shuttle helicopter is also solely responsible for being the first ARF helicopter in the world.
As I look back, I'll have to admit that after 10+ years of Shuttle revisions, it was refreshing to see the Sceadu EVO 30 and 50 come out - revitalizing the Hirobo 30 market. I own both the 30 and 50 now and assure you they are reliable platforms.
During a brief conversation, at the recent Toledo Show, with Mr. Frank Ritota who is the gentleman who runs the hobby giant MRC, Frank explained; they (MRC & Hirobo) decided to market the Shuttle Plus 2 as an avenue for new modelers to purchase a proven 30-size Hirobo platform at a reasonable cost. The Shuttle Plus 2 will hopefully become the conduit to move their customers into an Evo 30-50 helicopter when they are ready for a machine that could easily take them into 3D aerobatics.
Getting back to the machine - the new Shuttle Plus 2 is a cakewalk to get in the air. For the most part, the helicopter is pretty much already constructed. By simply installing

In simple terms, XFC stands for Extreme Flight Championships. The XFC, which is sponsored by Futaba and Great Planes, is an invitational only event. In the past few years, the XFC has earned the title of one of the most prestigious events for aerobatic 3D flying. The XFC committee; comprised of Wendell Adkins, Frank Noll Jr., and Bill Cline choose both the "unknown" maneuvers and 42 of the best pilots in the world in both helicopters and fixed wing.
The XFC flights are comprised mostly of free style flying. Each pilot performs his own routine of maneuvers. Some are ordinary, and of course, some new and unique. Each pilot also chooses his own music to score his maneuvers to. In most cases, this is all you need to have a 3D fly-off. What makes the XFC so unique is, in addition to the pilots choosing their own maneuvers, they are also given a set of required maneuvers. The required maneuvers are what separate the stick bangers from pilots who have control of their craft. The required maneuvers are not only difficult, but must be executed in the same exact manner as they are written by the XFC committee.
The required maneuvers this year for helicopters included a Vertical 3/4 Roll with Stationary Rolling Tumbles, a Pirouetting Loop with a 1 1/2 Piro Flip on Top, and a Continuous Double Rolling Stall Turn. Unlike 3D maneuvers, where a pilot could execute them anywhere they should happen, the required maneuvers must be flown in a window directly

IN THIS REPORT we compiled the latest in electric helicopters that will be released in 2006 and 2007. Battery and electronic technology have made unbelievable advancements in recent years and electric helis are now dominating a fair portion of the market place. Practically every manufacturer is, or will, offer a new electric helicopter by 2007. In this exclusive preview, we'll show you some new and exciting electric models from around the world.
This month we have a special article that discusses all the latest electric helicopters that will be released in 2006 and 2007. The trend this year is lot's of electric helicopters, and every manufacturer is or will offer a new electric helicopter.
Starting alphabetically, Align from Taiwan has hired Alan and Danny Szabo to promote its electric helicopters. The Szabo brothers flew pre-production T-Rex 600's and captured second and fifth places at the 2006 XFC. The T-Rex 600 has the same dimensions as most 50-size engine powered helicopters and it uses 600mm length rotor blades. This model should be available by the time you read this and a full review will be in an upcoming issue. Two kit versions are available, a standard version with aluminum side frames and a deluxe version with carbon side frames. A combo package is available with an Align brushless motor, Align 75 amp ESC (electronic speed controller), and a 6s Li-Po 4400 battery pack. The combo version without radio will be under $1000.
Graupner, the largest hobby manufacturer and distributor in Europe will introduce a big electric helicopter based on their proven Graupner/Heim mechanics. This new model, called the Skalar, weighs approximately 10 pounds ready to fly with the battery. This puts the Skalar in a similar weight class as Miniature Aircraft's Ion-X and the Minicopter Joker.

The AMA 518 Event kicked off Friday night with a 6:00 pm Pilots & Officials meeting that gave everyone an idea of what to expect over the course of the affair. The static judging and flying order was also determined, and after a nice visit with new & old friends, everyone headed their own way, as there was a big day ahead.
Saturday morning, the sun rose on a wonderful 80-degree blue-sky day. The official contest began bright and early at 8:00 am, with the Static judging to be followed closely by two rounds of flying before days end.
The previously determined flying order was also used for the static judging. Under the new rules, the models are judged on six categories, each having a possible 50 points maximum. A perfect score card would read 300 points, making the possible maximum total 900 points.
In order to be properly evaluated, the modeler must present documentation to the judges in the form of 3-view drawings and photos of the full-scale helicopter they are replicating so that the judges have something to compare the model to.
I cannot stress enough how important the documentation is to the outcome of an event such as this. Those modelers that take the time to acquire the best documentation usually end up with the highest static scores because the judges cannot give any points for things that the photos and 3-views do not show, regardless of how good it may be. If you have little or no documentation, the judges have little or nothing to judge the model on. During the static judging, the modeler is given time and encouraged to tell the judges about the model.